OPPO Enco Buds Review


OPPO launched its latest entry-level true wireless earbuds — the OPPO Enco Buds last week as the successor to its Enco W11 earbuds that was launched last year. This retains the 8mm dynamic drivers from the predecessor, but improves the battery life, has a 80ms low latency game mode, and comes with the latest Bluetooth 5.2 with AAC audio codec. So, are these the best budget true wireless earbuds? Let us find out in this review.

Box Contents

  • OPPO Enco Buds in White colour
  • Ear tips (Small, Medium (Pre-installed) and Large)
  • Quick start guide

Starting with the design, the headset comes in an oval shaped charging case that fits in your pocket. You can see the charge indicator on the front. The shiny case attracts fingerprints and is prone to scratches easily, and the white colour we have gets dirty easily, so I would prefer the Blue colour. The charging case measures 67.0×40.4×27.2 and weighs 45g (Charging Case+Buds), which makes it compact. You can see the specifications of the case on the other side, and the USB Type-C port is present on the back.

Since the case doesn’t have a function key, you need to pair the buds directly to the phone.

The headset has a plastic build, but comes with a matte finish on the inside, and the outer touch area has a glossy finish. You can see the microphone on the outside. The earbuds weigh about 4 grams, so you don’t feel like you are wearing them. These feature an in-ear design and also come with medium-sized ear tips pre-installed. You can change to bundled Large or Small sized ear tips if you wish. You can also see the charging contacts on the inside.

Overall, the headset offers a decent build quality for the price and fits your ears perfectly so that they don’t fall off your ears easily, even when running or cycling. The earbuds also have IP54 dust and water-resistant rating to prevent dust, splash, rain, and sweat in everyday use scenarios, but you can’t use it when swimming.

Connectivity, Pairing, and Controls

The OPPO Enco Buds support Bluetooth 5.2 with AAC high quality audio  codec. The connection range is around 10 meters, which is common in most headsets, and the connection quality is good. The pairing process is very easy, simply open the case with the earbuds. Now open the Bluetooth settings on the phone, and it shows up as OPPO Enco Buds, and you can connect to it.

It doesn’t have Google fast pairing mode or dual pairing to pair two devices at a time, which is fine since you can’t expect it in the price range. The touch controls are easy to access.

Function Left earphone (L) Right earphone (R)
Play / Pause Single Tap
Answer call / Hang calls Double tap
Play previous or next track Double tap
Launch voice assistant / Game mode Triple tap
Increase volume Touch and Hold
Decrease volume Touch and Hold

I didn’t expect the headset to feature volume controls, which is rare even in some premium headsets. The headset doesn’t have Smart wear detection, so it can’t automatically pause the music when taken out and resume when you put back, which is again a feature that is rarely present in a headset in the price range.

You can customize the controls from the settings in the Hey Melody app on Android or iOS. This works without a separate app in OPPO phones running ColorOS 11 or later. Single-tap and double tap controls can be customized. You can also switch triple tap controls and swap touch and hold gesture for volume control or disable them.

Audio Quality and Call Performance

The OPPO Enco Buds pack a 8mm dynamic driver that offer bass driven sound, so this offers a punchy bass, but the mids and highs are just average. Sound from the earbuds are loud, so even a 60% volume should be fine, but this depends on the audio you are listening. The low-latency gaming mode is useful when gaming since it reduces the latency. The company says that the latency is reduced to 80ms in the gaming mode during internal testing. It is also easy to enter the gaming mode when you triple tap the right earbud. You get a notification when you enter and exit the mode.

OPPO says that the Enco Buds feature intelligent DNN model-based noise cancellation, which uses a smart algorithm to distinguish human voices from background noises when you’re on a call.  Voice clarity was good for calls indoors, but it doesn’t cut out wind noise or traffic noise when you use if for calls outdoors. Overall, these have good audio quality and average call quality for the price.

Battery Life

The earbuds pack a 40mAh battery that promise about 6 hours of standalone battery life. During my use with AAC, I got over 5 and half hours of battery life in 50 to 60% volume. If you disable AAC, you get a better battery life in SBC. If you make a lot of calls, then the battery life will be less. It takes over one and half hours to charge the earbuds. There is fast charging, so 15 minutes of charging lets you play music for one hour. This is decent for a headset in the price range, but the complete charge takes time. If the earbuds are not connected to a phone for more than 5 minutes, it enters the power saving mode.

With the 400mAh charging case, it promises up to 24 hours of battery life. I got over 3 additional charges with AAC enabled. It takes close to 2 and half hours to charge the case fully with the earbuds over USB Type-C. Even though the case doesn’t pair with the phone, you can see the charge left in the case in the app when you place at least one ear buds in the case.

Conclusion

Overall, the OPPO Enco Buds is a good value for money entry-level Bluetooth true wireless earbuds for the price of Rs. 1999 that offers loud, bass driven audio, IP54 ratings, customizable controls, including volume controls and a long battery life, but the call quality is just average. There is no customizable EQ settings if you don’t need bass. The realme Buds Q2 Neo and DIZO GoPods D have this feature.

Thge OPPO Enco Buds comes in white and blue colours, is priced at Rs. 1,999. As a part of launch offer, it is available from OPPO online store and Flipkart at an offer price of Rs. 1,799 for a limited period

Pros

  • Bluetooth 5.2 with AAC
  • Good audio quality
  • IP54 ratings dust and water resistance
  • Good battery life

Cons

  • Call quality is average
  • Glossy case in prone to scratches

Author: Srivatsan Sridhar

Srivatsan Sridhar is a Mobile Technology Enthusiast who is passionate about Mobile phones and Mobile apps. He uses the phones he reviews as his main phone. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram